Chapter 357: Waiting for the Trap to Spring

Azkaban is a prison located on a small island in the middle of the North Sea. Built in the 15th century, it became a British wizarding prison in 1718.

Originally, Azkaban was just a fortress, inhabited by a dark wizard who called himself Ekrizdis. This wizard lured Muggles to his island, torturing them to death.

After Ekrizdis died, the concealment spells he placed on the fortress and the island wore off, revealing its existence to the Ministry of Magic. 

By then, the place was already overrun with Dementors.

The authorities considered destroying the fortress, but they feared that doing so might provoke retaliation from the island or its Dementors.

With the introduction of the International Statute of Secrecy, it became clear that using small wizarding prisons was impractical. 

Escaping prisoners often caused noticeable disturbances in the form of noise, smells, and flashes of light.

As a result, the Ministry of Magic decided to use Azkaban as a prison. The Dementors on the island could serve as guards, saving time, money, and effort. 

Despite opposition, the plan was implemented, and with almost no escapes or breaches of the secrecy laws, Azkaban continued to serve as the wizarding world's main prison.

Azkaban's terrifying reputation largely stems from its guards—the Dementors. Under their influence, prisoners gradually lose their sanity and eventually die.

However, this summer, after Voldemort's resurrection, the Dementors began to rebel and joined his cause. 

The reason being that, under Voldemort's rule, Dementors were allowed to feast on Muggles freely and reproduce without restraint—conditions that the current wizarding government could never tolerate.

In the original timeline, the Dementors did not openly betray the Ministry. Before Voldemort seized full control, they acted as his undercover agents within Azkaban. 

With their help, the Death Eaters orchestrated two prison breaks, one in January 1996 and the other in July 1997. 

Many prominent Death Eaters, including Antonin Dolohov, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Augustus Rookwood, escaped.

But now, with Alaric, who leaves no stone unturned, in the picture, how could Bones possibly miss such a loophole?

However, due to her plans, Bones did not react immediately to the Dementors' betrayal.

She discreetly used her position to gradually replace the Aurors stationed at Azkaban over the course of two months.

On one hand, although Azkaban was under the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, it operated relatively independently and answered directly to Minister Fudge. 

By doing this, Bones took advantage of Fudge's weakening authority to seize control of Azkaban.

On the other hand, she was very selective about the Aurors she sent to guard the prison.

All the Aurors she dispatched were proficient in the Patronus Charm, ensuring they could defend against any sudden attacks from the Dementors.

And when Voldemort began retaliating against the Ministry, despite the strain on her manpower, she secretly dispatched an elite group of Aurors to Azkaban, led by Rufus Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror Office.

This shows just how seriously Bones took the situation at Azkaban.

But her last move wasn't just about defense.

She ordered these elite Aurors not to participate in the prison's regular defenses but to hide.

Apart from the high-ranking Aurors already stationed at Azkaban, no one knew of their existence—not the prisoners, and certainly not the Dementors.

Their mission was to wait: wait for the Dementors to revolt, wait for the Death Eaters to attempt a prison break, and wait for the enemy to arrive.

Then, at the right moment, they would strike and capture the enemy in one fell swoop.

In the original story, in July 1997, Voldemort orchestrated a massive breakout from Azkaban while the Ministry was overwhelmed by a series of terrorist attacks on Muggles.

In 1996, during the first prison break, a significant number of Death Eaters had escaped. 

Unfortunately for them, many of these escapees later infiltrated the Department of Mysteries, trying to retrieve the prophecy from Harry Potter.

They almost succeeded, but thanks to the timely intervention of Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix, some of the Death Eaters were captured again.

But what about this time?

Although the first prison break didn't happen, now most of Voldemort's followers were imprisoned in Azkaban. Nearly all of the notable Death Eaters had been caught.

If Voldemort couldn't launch a surprise attack on Azkaban, he wouldn't be able to gather a reliable force quickly.

This situation forced Voldemort onto a single path: attacking Azkaban and planning a massive jailbreak.

And this plan had to be executed by Voldemort himself.

There were simply too many people who needed to be freed—not only elite Death Eaters but also many of their family members. 

These pure-blood families' elderly, women, and children needed to be rescued as well, or else the Death Eaters would surely lose their loyalty to him.

Even a tyrant like Voldemort understood this.

In the original timeline, only about a dozen highly skilled Death Eaters escaped. 

With the help of the Dementors, they only needed some outside help to smuggle in wands, and the breakout could be accomplished before the Aurors could respond.

But now, things were different.

Currently, there were over a hundred Death Eaters in Azkaban. A jailbreak involving so many people would be impossible unless the Aurors were complete fools.

Alternatively, they would need to capture Azkaban—at least temporarily.

To achieve that, the Death Eaters, in their current state, couldn't manage without Voldemort's direct involvement.

Of course, Voldemort had realized this.

But he thought that Madam Bones and the foolish Ministry of Magic would never expect this. They wouldn't realize that the Dementors had already fully allied with him.

Just as they didn't know that Voldemort had achieved immortality through his Horcruxes. No matter how many times he was killed, he could always return after a period of weakness.

Unfortunately for him, Alaric, as a time traveler, knew all of this.

Not only did he know, but he also used this foreknowledge to turn the situation into his own "victory."

Now, Azkaban had become a giant trap, and the most evil Dark Lord in history was the target.

Alaric was waiting for Voldemort to fall into the net.

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